Alternate Route
by fallingfreely
Summary: What if, this time, things were different? Spin-off of the entire "Heartbreakers" series.
1. Chapter 1

_"Riku, why are you being such a jerk?" She yelled loudly, her face starting to turn a light shade of red._

 _"I'm not being a jerk," Riku countered, irritation ringing through his voice. He pulled his silver hair out of his clear, aquamarine eyes and stared at the girl in front of him, her hazel/gold eyes aflame. "You're just being difficult, Jasmine. You've ALWAYS been difficult."_

 _Jasmine gritted her teeth in anger, trying to hold her composure. She pulled her shoulder length black hair behind her ears and turned away from Riku, trying to hide the fact that her tan/light brown skin was even redder._

 _This wasn't their first fight. In fact, it had been one of many. But this one felt more severe than the others._

 _It was the day after senior prom and, up until now, it had been a perfect day. However, as usual, they collided over the simplest of things that triggered another argument._

 _The problem though? Their problems were more than the tiny, almost minuscule issues that seemed to trigger these fights. There was something bigger that deep down, neither of them were wanting to deal with._

 _"Riku," Jasmine's voice was softer now, almost barely above a whisper. "Tell me…do you love me?"_

 _Riku froze on site and backed away from Jasmine, almost as if the question had frightened him. "Where did that come from?" He asked cautiously, already having his answer._

 _"Just answer the question," Jasmine was much calmer and clearly more deliberate. "Yes or no?"_

 _A heavy silence filled the room and time seemed to stand still for the pair. Riku turned away from Jasmine, his answer ringing loudly in his head. Even though he knew what to say, Riku was unable to part his lips to utter the answer that they both needed to hear._

 _After what felt like an eternity, Jasmine sighed heavily and turned her back on Riku. Crushed, heartbroken, and confused, she stared intensely the door in front of her with tears streaming down her face. Her pride would not allow her to let Riku see her in such a state and she cursed herself, and him at the same time._

 _Unlike Riku, who had more than enough time at his disposal, Jasmine was faced with something crucial, something that would change the course of her life forever. All she wanted was an answer from him, the person she cared for most in the entire world. It didn't matter what it was, she just needed something._

 _However, after there was that continued stillness, Jasmine knew that she had an answer. And even though she had prepared herself for this situation, it still tore her apart from the inside out._

 _She inhaled deeply in an attempt to keep her voice from shaking. "Don't even worry about it," she said calmly. "It doesn't matter."_

 _"Huh?" That was all Riku could manage. His mind was swirling, and his heart was racing. Her voice was so cold and so distant now. "What do you mean?"_

 _Jasmine glanced over her shoulder and gave him an empty stare devoid of any emotion. "It doesn't matter. What we're doing? This is done."_

 _And just like that, Riku's world seemed to crash around him._

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"This is a breakup," Jasmine clarified, the same emotionless tone in her voice still strong and true. "I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of the arguing. And I'm tired of not knowing where we stand. We've been at this for a while now and even though I still care about you, I can't just sit here in the dark anymore. If I had an answer, maybe this would be worth it. But I don't," she added darkly. "So, I have to make the call. This is over."_

 _"Jasmine," Riku began slowly. A fear and panic that he'd never known before took hold of him. He could feel Jasmine drifting further and further away from him with each passing minute. "Don't you think this is a bit dramatic?"_

 _At the word "dramatic", Jasmine felt anger take hold of her and she tried her best to suppress it. She knew that Riku was trying to take control of the conversation and steer it in a different direction. But she had to put her foot down this time._

 _"Riku," she began cautiously, "look at the way things have been going over the last few months. I don't think this is dramatic at all. I think it makes sense. Right now, we're not good together. I think it's best we go back to being friends."_

 _Riku was at a complete loss for words. While he agreed that they fought more often, he didn't think that it was so bad to where they needed to end their relationship. After all, they'd been friends for years. Hell, best friends even. Jasmine knew things about Riku that not even his other best friends, Sora and Kairi, were aware of._

 _On top of it all, Riku had a sneaky suspicion that once this break up happened, the two of them would not be able to go back to being close friends._

 _Or even friends at all._

 _"Maybe we should talk about this later," Riku said finally, refusing to believe that Jasmine was dumping him._

 _She shook her head fervently and stepped aside. "No. This is over, Riku. It'll be better for us in the long run."_

 _Before Riku had the chance to get another word in, Jasmine was already gone, the only silence in the room coming from the heavy, haunting door slam behind her._

* * *

Naminé yawned, her mouth stretching to its limits as she sat in her car early one foggy morning. As she parked the car by the airport curbside, she pulled her shoulder length blonde hair into a low-hanging ponytail and slumped in her seat.

"Sleepy?"

She turned to her passenger, a young man in his twenties with wildly spiked blonde hair and royal blue eyes. He offered her a kind smile and handed her a travel coffee mug, its contents being her favorite morning drink: a hot green tea latte.

"A little," Naminé admitted, offering her companion a small smile. "I wanted to come early to pick her up from the airport. You know Jasmine is always on time."

The blond laughed and rolled his eyes, leaning against the passenger door, looking out for a familiar face. "I can't believe she's actually moving back."

Naminé mulled over the thought, happiness swelling deep within her. "I still can't believe she's moving back, Roxas. She's been gone for seven years."

"Have you told anyone?" Roxas asked curiously.

She shook her head. "No, I haven't. Though Kairi and the others wanted to know why I couldn't get breakfast with them today."

Roxas lifted an eyebrow curiously. "Why not? I'm sure Sora and the others will be glad to see her. I think it would be a good idea to give everyone a heads up. Especially you know who…"

Naminé inhaled sharply. There was one problem with her friend's arrival to the Destiny Islands – one that she'd been trying to best navigate since she got word that her best friend was coming back to the island.

"It's been so long, Roxas," Naminé began slowly. "I doubt Riku would be mad after all this time. Besides, they were in high school when they broke up. Riku doesn't hold grudges. I'm sure he'll be happy to see her after all this time."

Roxas scratched his chin, mulling over the thought.

"Hey, Nam…"

"Yeah?"

"Why exactly did they break up again?"

Naminé exhaled sharply, her fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly. "You know? She explained it to me once, but in honesty, I'm not a hundred percent sure about the reason in its entirety – apart from what you and I know."

Roxas shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'll ask her about it later. I'm taking her to get dinner later since you and the girls are going shopping." There was a brief, heavy pause between the pair. Not long after, Roxas broke the silence.

"You know Ven keeps asking about her," Roxas said in a hushed tone.

Naminé pursed her lips at the statement. "I'm honestly not surprised. She said they haven't spoken in almost a month."

"My older brother," Roxas began, "he's worried. He can't seem to get in touch with her."

Naminé smiled ruefully. "If there's one person who can disappear without a trace. Ventus should know that."

Roxas mulled over the thought of his older brother and Jasmine. Thinking about their situation, it made sense for Jasmine to disappear. And their given careers made it easy for that to happen. "True. But I wouldn't be surprised if he popped up. You know how he is."

Naminé laughed, thinking of Roxas' brother and his…behaviors. Nothing ever really surprised her when it came to Ven. She spotted a young woman heading out from the airport terminal, looking out towards the curbside pickup area. She was taller than most with tanned/light brown skin, elbow length black hair, and sharp hazel/gold eyes.

"There she goes," Roxas pulled out his cell phone, the time reading 7:30am. "She's right on time, as usual."

Naminé's smile spread from ear to ear and she was practically bouncing out of her seat. Roxas leaned over and kissed her cheek, causing the young woman to blush fiercely.

"Go on," he urged. "You're gonna fly out of your seat. Go see your best friend."

With that, Naminé jumped out of her seat and ran over to Jasmine.

Roxas watched from afar as Naminé ran to Jasmine and nearly jumped into her arms, causing the taller girl to drop her duffel bag as she returned the hug.

He loved watching the two interact. They were longtime friends who hadn't had a lot of time to grow together in their adulthood but now that Jasmine was moving back to the island, they could be together again.

Roxas slipped his hand in the pocket of his jeans, gently touching the velvety box he kept safe for months. He stared at Naminé lovingly, the secret he kept close to his heart threatening to spill out at every moment.

He quickly glanced at Jasmine and waved to her as she and Naminé headed for the car.

'I'll need your help with this one, Jaz,' he thought, his heart beating faster and faster with each and every moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Sora grunted loudly as he fell to the ground, watching as his opponent dunked the basketball above him, narrowly missing the ball as it came crashing down from overhead.

He sighed and rubbed his spikey light brown hair. Glancing up at a young man with pale skin and shoulder-length silver hair he sighed heavily.

"Geez, Riku," Sora began, holding out his hand. The other boy took it and pulled Sora to his feet. "You're a beast today. You didn't have to go so hard on me."

Riku laughed, his aquamarine-colored eyes flashing brightly. "I always have to go hard on you." He ruffled Sora's wild hair, only to have his hands be swatted away. "That's so you get better."

Sora laughed and flashed a good-natured grin. "Tough love?"

Riku smirked and grabbed the basketball, tucking it under his arm. "You can call it that if you want. Besides, with you starting your first year of med school and me starting my second year of law school in a week, we need to get as much time in before we're caught up in our studies."

Sora nodded his head in agreement. As usual, Riku was right.

With a heavy sigh, Sora glanced over at the little islet that sat offshore of the Destiny Islands, sitting quietly in the distance. It was hard to believe how far off the days of them being children seemed to be. While Sora, Kairi, and the majority of their friends from the Destiny Islands were twenty-four, Riku, their friends Roxas and his friends from another island (who they had come to know through the university) were twenty-five.

He quietly wondered to himself where the time had gone. It didn't seem like long ago when they raced, had swordfights, and sailed along the shores as children.

"We're adults now," Sora said before shuddering. "This is gross."

Riku laughed, wrapping an arm around his best friend's shoulders. They had known each other all their lives and even he had to admit that it was wild to think that so much time had passed. But then again, he was more than content to have his best friends by his side throughout it all.

"We have to get ready for the bonfire tonight," Sora reminded Riku. "Kairi said we have to be there by four to claim our spot on the beach."

The silver haired young man nodded, removing his arm from Sora's shoulder. "Yeah. She told me to pick up the hot dogs and stuff."

"Naminé and Roxas are meeting up with us all early. I think they're bringing the alcohol and mixers," Sora added. "I can't wait!"

Riku smiled. He loved the group get togethers. With everyone getting older and starting to build their own lives, it was nice that everyone still hung out often. After all, most of them (with the exception of Roxas, Axel and Naminé who'd come from Twilight Town) grew up together as children. At this point they were all family and it meant the world to Riku to know that they were still so close.

"I wonder what the special occasion is," Sora wondered out loud. "We just had a barbeque last week at Selphie's house."

"Do we need a reason to hang out?" Riku asked with a chuckle. "Just enjoy it."

"I don't know," Sora sing-songed. The pair started off towards the parking lot where Riku's car sat. "I heard Kairi talking on the phone to Naminé last night. She sure did sound excited about something."

This fact did catch Riku's attention. "Did Kairi tell you anything?"

Sora shook his head. "Nam said something about some surprise, but she wouldn't give Kairi any details."

Just then, a thought struck Riku. "Do you think Roxas is gonna propose to Naminé tonight?"

Sora gasped, his bright blue eyes widening. "Really? Do you think it's gonna happen?"

Riku stepped back, Sora's energy being a bit much in the moment. He chuckled and continued on. "Of course, it's gonna happen. They've been together for six years. It's only a matter of _when_. You know he's crazy about Naminé."

Sora threw his hands behind his head and stared into the sky. "That's true." He broke out into a grin from ear to ear. "I can't wait for it."

"Speaking of which," a mischievous grin tugged at the corners of Riku's mouth. "When are you gonna pop the question to Kairi? You guys have been together since senior year of high school."

Sora's face turned a vibrant shade of red and he did his best to avoid Riku's gaze. "U-Uh we're not quite there yet! I mean, Rox and Nam have known each other since birth practically. They've been together longer than Kairi and I."

Riku got a kick out of seeing his best friend so flustered. Ever since they were little, he knew that Sora had a thing for Kairi. While they had teased the thought for most of their lives, the pair didn't come together as an official couple until college. But everyone in their group of friends knew that they were destined to be together.

In an attempt to gain his composure, Sora switched the topic of conversation. "Are you bringing anyone tonight?"

"Nah," Riku replied casually. "I like to keep these kinds of things for our friends."

Sora read between the lines. What Riku _meant_ to say was that he didn't want to have any random girls he was casually dating at their events. Sora knew better than most that Riku would probably have a new girl meeting the group every few weeks if he brought a date every single time if he absolutely had to bring someone. But, as per the norm, Riku elected to go solo and just spend the time with his friends.

It was no surprise to anyone that Riku would have a string of girls at his beck and call. Riku was always one of the, if not THE, most popular guys in their class at school. He was smart, confident, athletic, and attractive. It had been that way for all their lives. Plus, Riku was also a nice guy. Sora often looked up to his best friend and viewed him as an older brother figure.

But, even though he was insanely popular with women, Riku hadn't had a steady girlfriend in years. And it wasn't for the lack of interest. It was just that something didn't feel right.

Sora then felt a wave of sadness hit him.

He would never say this out loud, especially not to Riku of all people, but it seemed as though no one ever seemed to hold a candle to one girl in particular.

The only girl who ever challenged him.

The only girl who could bring him back down to earth when his head got too big.

The only one to humble him and enlighten him at the same time.

Sora and the group hadn't seen Jasmine in seven years as she left suddenly and vanished without a trace towards the end of Riku's senior year of high school and Sora's junior year. Riku and Jasmine were the older kids of the group and were close friends, eventually leading up to a couple. They fussed, fought, and argued and teased each other. But even with all the bickering, the two of them just _worked_.

And even though Riku did his best to remain composed, it was very apparent to Sora how hurt Riku had become with Jasmine's abrupt disappearance and the break up. Sora and the others tried to get in touch with her only to find her email no longer working and her cell phone disconnected.

Jasmine had vanished without a trace, leaving everyone with questions.

Even Naminé, Jasmine's best friend for years, hadn't a clue as to what happened for the longest time. But by that point, no one wanted to stir the pot and potentially upset Riku. So, they all let the subject go and never spoke of it again.

But even Sora had to admit that he missed Jasmine deeply. She and Riku were fairly similar and he looked up to her as well. Her moving away was a loss to not only Riku, but to him as well. He often wondered where she was and if she was okay.

A playful shove tore Sora out of his deep thoughts and he stumbled forward, nearly tripping over the curb in the parking lot.

"Wake up, Sora!" Riku teased. "We've got a party to get to."

Sora laughed awkwardly, trying his best to erase his thoughts of Jasmine. "Sorry! I was daydreaming again."

Riku watched Sora enter the passenger's seat of his car and smiled. After all these years, it seemed like nothing had changed.

* * *

The young woman named Jasmine sat on the couch in Naminé's living room, staring blankly at her phone. The screen was still dark, and she waited anxiously for someone to reach out to her, only to have her heart sink when the minutes kept ticking by.

She tossed the black cell phone to the side, her mind swirling and her heart heavy with disappointment.

"You reached out to him, yes?" Naminé asked as she peered out from her kitchen.

"Yeah," Jasmine replied softly. "I didn't want to though."

Naminé tied her hair into a low-hanging ponytail and sat down beside her friend. She placed a hand on Jasmine's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You still haven't told me everything. Why did you guys break up in the first place? Ven called me and he was very upset."

Jasmine kept her face and expression blank, something Naminé knew her to do whenever she was trying to conceal her thoughts. "It's a breakup. I'm not surprised it's upsetting."

"Roxas asked me about it too," Naminé added on, hoping to get a bit of a reaction from Jasmine.

The dark-haired woman was still unreadable. "I could imagine. After all, Ven is his older brother. I'm sure he wants to know."

Naminé watched Jasmine closely, hoping to catch any sort of emotion. But she knew her friend was a master at hiding her feelings with ease. Even though they'd been friends for years, Naminé often had a hard time deciphering the enigmatic young woman.

And right now, Jasmine was doing a great job at giving Naminé absolutely nothing to go by.

"It just doesn't make sense," Naminé said finally, her voice trailing off slightly. "I thought you guys were perfect together. You work together, you guys take care of each other…what happened?"

Jasmine inhaled sharply and stared at the ceiling. She didn't necessarily want to talk about this, especially not with the girlfriend of her ex's brother. But she and Naminé were best friends and they shared almost everything with each other. It almost felt wrong for her to not say anything.

However, given the fact that not even Jasmine was one hundred percent sure of what was going on, she felt it best to give a simple, if not vague, answer that might silence things.

For now, anyway…

"We're just in two different places right now," Jasmine told her friend. "I don't know what's gonna happen but bare minimum, we're both single right now."

Upon seeing the look of sadness on Naminé's face, Jasmine placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze with a kind smile. "It'll be fine, Nam. It's better this way for now."

Once she realized that she wasn't going to get any more out of Jasmine tonight, Naminé let the subject go. She knew that she wasn't getting anywhere with this. And she knew that if she kept pressing, the conversation might take a turn south.

"Well, either way, I'm glad you're staying with me for a while," Naminé said cheerfully. "It'll be nice to have my best friend back."

"I'm excited to sit still for a while," Jasmine told her, watching as her screen lit up from an incoming text message. There was no name attached to the number, but she immediately knew who the sender was.

"And you know you can stay as long as you want." Naminé got up and ran to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a bottle of white wine. "We can be roommates! If you want, we can even look at two-bedroom apartments once you get settled."

"I'd like that," Jasmine said with a smile before turning her attention to the text message.

As Naminé poured Jasmine a glass of wine, she took note of the hard stare in Jasmine's eyes. After she took a sip from her own glass, she tilted her head up.

"Who is that? Is it Ven?" She asked curiously.

Jasmine quickly sent off a text message before she set the phone down on the couch facedown. "No," she replied casually. "Just a coworker. I told him I was moving here, and he wants to catch up."

Naminé shifted on the couch and crossed one leg over the other. "When do you start work?"

"On Monday," Jasmine replied, taking a sip from the wine glass in front of her. "It'll be weird working in an office again."

The blonde's expression shifted to one of relief. "I'm kind of glad. Your job is dangerous. It'll be nice to have you around more and not flying out to these random places."

Jasmine smiled ruefully. "It won't completely stop, Naminé. I'm more or less taking a bit of a break from the action for now. You know that."

With a heavy sigh, Naminé conceded. "I do know that," she said distantly as she laid back against the couch, her deep blue eyes glued to the ceiling.

Noticing the heavy tension in the room, Jasmine attempted to lighten the mood by ruffling Naminé's hair, making it a wild mess. The blonde swatted her friend's hand away and laughed, knowing that she probably looked crazy. "Just don't go off right away."

"I won't I won't," Jasmine assured her, finishing off her glass of wine.

"By the way, you're still coming to the bonfire tomorrow, right?" Naminé asked as she flipped through various texts on her cell phone. She looked over her shoulders to see Jasmine staring at her own phone and slightly turned her back to Jasmine when she saw that she had an unopened text from Riku.

"Yeah. Who's coming?"

Naminé felt a lump in her throat. She knew that she should tell Jasmine that Riku was coming to the bonfire, for some unknown reason, she was keeping that information to herself. Even Roxas himself said that there shouldn't be a problem between the pair, but deep down, Naminé felt uneasy about the whole situation.

After all, she knew that they'd cross paths soon (as they all shared the same group of friends) but Naminé had a sneaky suspicion that things might not be as smooth as Roxas had suggested earlier.

"Just a few friends I met out here," Naminé half-lied. "It's super casual. I think it'll be fun."

With a casual shrug of her shoulders, Jasmine continued to stare at her phone, seemingly unaware of the slightly panicked look on Naminé's face.

'I hope it goes smoothly,' Naminé thought to herself. 'I don't think we need any more relationship drama.'


End file.
